It is a common experience to use a telephone or similar device to call an operator for information assistance. In a typical information assistance call, a caller identifies to the operator the name and address (sometimes city or area code) of a party whose telephone number is desired. In response, the operator locates the desired destination number using a computer database, for example. The destination number is then provided to the caller. The number may be provided by a computerized voice server which provides automated voicing of the number. The caller may be afforded an option to be connected to the destination number without the need of first terminating the information assistance call.
It should be noted that even though a user may subscribe to a telephone service provided by a particular carrier (e.g., AT&T Wireless Services Inc.) or branding partner (e.g., Virgin), the information assistance service accessed through the telephone service may be contracted by the carrier to a third party, and is therefore run by an independent contractor. That is, carriers may contract different independent providers to provide information assistance services for them. When a subscriber to the carrier makes an information assistance call by dialing such typical access digits as “411,” “*555,” “555-1212,” “00,” “1-800-555-1212,” etc., because of the contractual relationship, the carrier would switch such an information assistance call to its contracted information assistance service provider to handle the call.
Independent providers may provide different information assistance services and service features in addition to directory assistance. For example, upon request, an operator may provide a user with information on regional restaurants, movie listings, and directions to various places and the ability to purchase goods and services, etc. The assignee of the present application is an information assistance service provider which provides, among others, personalized services and special service features, which are different or lacking from other providers. For instance, one such service feature is a StarBack® service feature described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,092, whereby a caller, after being connected to a desired party, may be connected back to the assistance service provider by pressing a “*” key on their telephone, or otherwise issuing a command (e.g., saying the word “operator”). Examples of the assignee's personalized services include private directory assistance service and foreign language directory assistance service, which are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,437 and International Publication No. WO 01/35621.
Users may therefore be motivated to subscribe to independent information service providers for directory assistance and the other offered services. Users may pay the independent information service provider at the time of the call for that call, by credit card, for example, or may establish subscription accounts, facilitating their use of the system.
When a subscriber to an independent information service provider calls the service from a wireline phone, the service may identify the originating phone based on identifiers in the call set-up signals associated with the call, such as an Automatic Number Identifier (“ANI”). If a wireless phone is used, the identifier may be the phone number, also known as a Mobile Identification Number (“MIN”) of the wireless phone. If the phone is registered with the service in association with the subscriber and/or the subscriber's account, identification of the phone initiating the call may enable identification of the subscriber, as well. Instead of identifying the phone calling the system, the system might identify a customer account. For example, a business customer may obtain a unique phone number to access the communications service for use by authorized parties under the business account. In that case, a dialed number identification service (“DNIS”) string in the call-set-up signals may be used to identify the account with which the caller is associated.
To verify that the caller is the subscriber associated with the registered phone or account, an operator or voice response unit (“VRU”) may ask the caller to provide user verification information, such as a personal identification number (“PIN”). Providing a PIN each time the service is called can be annoying and time consuming. In addition, certain customers may have trouble remembering their PIN. To verify the identity of the caller, the operator may then have to ask for additional information, such as the subscriber's name, address, mother's maiden name, credit card number, etc., which the customer may have provided during registration with the system. This may embarrass and annoy the subscriber, as well as be even more time consuming.
In addition, if multiple parties are associated with a subscriber's account, such as family members or employees of a business, use of the ANI may enable identification of the account, but will not enable identification of which one of the multiple parties to the account is calling. As discussed above, an operator or VRU may request additional information to identify the caller, such as a PIN, however, use of a PIN may be problematic.
Voiceprints have been used to assist in identifying a customer of a communications system, as described, e.g., in copending, commonly assigned application Ser. No. 10/403,207, filed on Mar. 31, 2003 (“the '207 application”), incorporated herein by reference. According to the described technique, a voiceprint of a caller may be compared to a stored voiceprint sample based on a voiceprint previously provided by a party. For example, a voiceprint sample may be derived from verbal utterances of the party provided during a registration process. The party may be asked to repeat a password or phrase multiple times, which the system records and processes into a voiceprint sample. The result of the comparison of the voiceprint and the voiceprint sample may be a score indicative of the degree of correspondence between the voiceprint and the voiceprint sample, which may be compared to a threshold. If the threshold is met or exceeded, the party providing the voiceprint is considered to be the same party that provided the voiceprint sample.